Chapter 7 - The Truth UnmaskedThe backstage area fell into an absolute, suffocating silence. Even the models and stylists had stopped moving, staring wide-eyed at the sudden drama unfolding between the billionaire brothers and the rising designer.
Julian looked at Lena, his face completely drained of color. The iron-clad control that always defined him fractured completely.
"Lena... listen to me," Julian stepped forward, his voice pleading—a tone he had likely never used with anyone in his life. "Marcus is twisting the truth. Yes, I knew who you were before we met at that bakery. Your portfolio crossed my desk three months ago. I tried to buy your brand then, and you turned my acquisition team down flat. You said you wouldn't sell out to a corporate conglomerate."
Lena stared at him, tears finally spilling over her lashes. "So you engineered a rescue? You used your own grandmother as bait so I would feel indebted to you?"
"No!" Julian’s voice cracked, raw and desperate. "Grandmother went to that bakery on her own accord—that part was real! When my security team told me she was stranded downtown and a young woman was defending her against those cruel clerks... I rushed down there. When I saw it was you—the designer I had been trying to reach for months—I saw an opportunity, yes. But the contract..." Julian pointed a trembling finger at the paper. "I never saw that amendment. I swear to you on my life, Lena, I never signed that clause."
Marcus laughed, swirling his champagne. "Oh, please, Julian. Who runs the legal department? Who signs off on every subsidiary transfer? You did it to protect family assets from a gold-digger."
"Shut up, Marcus!" Julian roared, lunging forward with such terrifying velocity that Marcus stumbled backward, spilling champagne all over his own designer shirt.
Julian grabbed Marcus by the collar, slamming him against a costume rack with a crash of falling hangers. "You forged that amendment! You had access to the legal portal before your suspension! You planted it in her email to destroy this!"
Marcus choked out a laugh, his eyes wild. "Prove it, brother. The digital signature matches your master corporate key. Good luck explaining that to the board—or to her."
Lena stepped back, her heart shattering into a million jagged pieces. She looked at Julian—the man she had started to trust, the man who had pulled her out of the gutter only to allegedly build a golden cage around her.
"It doesn't matter who forged it, Julian," Lena whispered, her voice dead and hollow. "The fact that your family is a battlefield of lies and manipulation... I can't breathe in this world. I'm done."
She ripped her designer ID badge off her lanyard, tossed it onto the table beside the fraudulent contract, and turned away into the shadows of the exit.
"Lena! Wait!" Julian yelled, shoving Marcus aside.
May you like
Before Julian could take two steps toward the exit, a frail, trembling hand caught his arm.
Eleanor Hale stood there, having just walked in from the front row, her face carved with stern, unforgivable fury—not at Lena, but at Marcus.
